Sprint Training – A Paradigm Shift to Improve a Triathlete’s Cycling Performance

Sprinting is considered as one of those abilities only competitive cyclists need to concern themselves with. I mean, how often does a triathlete need to sprint for a $50.00 cash prime or ramp up 1KM out to take a group sprint? So it seems obvious a triathlete shouldn’t concern him/herself with the need to sprint in a triathlon, right? Well, I want to challenge this paradigm and give evidence of why a triathlete should implement on-the-bike sprinting and explosive strength training to increase his/her chance to experience great cycling performance.

We often hear the importance of one’s VO2Max and how it’s a predictor of performance. But it’s been shown that one’s maximal sustainable power output (MSPO ≈ average Watts for one hour) is a better predictor of performance than one’s VO2Max (1). Let me offer an analogy to this statement. We have two athletes (A and B) performing the squat exercise with weights. Athlete A can squat 315lbs eight times until exhaustion and athlete B can squat 225lbs eight times until exhaustion. Both athletes can squat 200 lbs for 20 repetitions; however, one can guess that 20 repetitions of 200lbs will be more stressful for athlete B compared to athlete A. Moving this analogy to cycling performance, we have two cyclists (A and B) that have a MSPO of 320 Watts. Cyclist A has a two-minute power output of 450 Watts and cyclist B has a two-minute power output of 500 Watts. Assuming both cyclists have the same training in terms of how much, how often and how hard, one can speculate that cyclist B will feel less taxed while performing at 320 Watts.

So this brings about my challenge that explosive strength training and sprinting will increase a triathlete’s cycling performance. The common paradigm coaches and athletes leverage is that of high volume and strictly maintaining training intensity below threshold (a nebulous term ≈ MSPO). Research shows that this approach may not produce optimal performance (1,2) and that adding explosive strength training and sprinting to the athlete’s regiment can produce better endurance performance via an increase in muscular efficiency and an increase in the athlete’s MSPO (3). Bastianns et al. (2) found that replacing a portion of endurance training with explosive style strength training can lead to improved time trial power output (7.9% improvement in the explosive training group vs. 5.9% in the endurance-only training group). Furthermore, the time trial performance was significantly greater at four weeks compared to baseline in the explosive training group, but not in the endurance-only training group (2). Finally, explosive training led to a significant improvement in peak power compared to endurance training alone (1).

So, seriously consider changing your leg exercise to be more explosive and get geared up to sprint on your bike. Let me heed caution; before you begin sprinting for those green, county limit signs take watch of the more experienced riders sprint. Pay attention to their movements and give it a few tries on solo rides. I need to stress the need to be extra cautious if sprinting within a group. It’s not worth it to take risks and only sprint if you truly feel comfortable.

1. Paton  CD, Hopkins WG.  Combining explosive and high-resistance training improves performance in competitive cyclists.  J Strength Cond Res. 2005 Nov;19(4):826-30

2. Bastiaans JJ, van Diemen AB, Veneberg T, Jeukendrup AE.  The effects of replacing a portion of endurance training by explosive strength training on performance in trained cyclists.  2001:86(1):79-84

3. Jeukendrup, A, Van Diemen, A. Heart rate monitoring during training and competition in cyclists.  J of Sports Sci. 1998:16;S91-9

Endeavor Performance has become an ongoing expression of my lifelong passion with cycling. The result is a continuing acceptance of me and what I want to be when I grow up. It’s my childhood love and passion for cycling, my God given gifts such as effective encouragement, compassion, physical strength, patience, attention to detail, and most importantly a passion to assist others to persevere as they tackle their cycling endeavors.  Read More